The Biggest Outrage in Atlanta’s Crazy Teacher Cheating Case →

The big story is about a system-wide cheating scandal in Atlanta (mirrored across the US), thanks to excessively "high-stakes" testing (read: principals' and teachers' jobs being linked to test performance). But the author makes a fair point about the justice system:

So let’s see how the justice system dealt with these two cases. When mostly African-American educators at poor schools in Atlanta cheat on tests, they get the book thrown at them. Ten of the 11 convicted on Thursday went directly to jail while they awaited sentencing; Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter only spared the eleventh because of her imminent pregnancy. They each face up to 20 years. With Baxter quoted as saying “they have made their bed and they’re going to have to lie in it,” it’s difficult to expect much leniency. Even higher-ups got drawn into the criminal justice net; the former Atlanta School Superintendent, Beverly Hall, only avoided conviction for looking the other way at obvious fraud because she was too sick to stand trial. She died of breast cancer earlier this year. 
As for the entire housing market, top to bottom, you can count the number of people who went to jail on one finger. Lorraine O’Reilly Brown was the CEO of a default services company called DocX, which filed over 1 million false documents in courts and county offices from 2003 to 2009. This was industry practice, but only Brown went to jail for it, with the claim that she committed a conspiracy of one, allegedly defrauding banks by concealing the fraudulent document scheme. Apparently when banks contracted DocX to create documents they should have legally already had in their possession, they never expected them to be fake.
Outside of Brown, nobody who authorized any falsification, no superiors at DocX parent company Lender Processing Services (now Black Knight), nobody at a major mortgage servicer, no mortgage origination manager, and certainly no executive of any Wall Street bank ever faced the full wrath of Judge Jerry Baxter or any other authority figure forcing them to don a jumpsuit and spend 10 to 20 thinking about what they did. Despite the clear criminality of the enterprise, nobody thought to use a RICO statute on banks and their affiliates, or do anything beyond settle for cash.

The Thirsty West: 10 Percent of California’s Water Goes to Almond Farming →

...The state produces one-third of our vegetables and two-thirds of our nuts and fruits each year. While fields in iconic agricultural states like Iowa, Kansas, and Texas primarily produce grain (most of which is used to fatten animals), pretty much everything you think of as actual food is grown in California. Simply put: We can’t eat without California. But as climate change–fueled droughts continue to desiccate California, the short-term solution from farmers has been to double down on making money.

Survey of Americans' Privacy Habits Post-Snowden →

Overall, these numbers are consistent with a worldwidesurvey from December. The press is spinning this as "Most Americans' behavior unchanged after Snowden revelations, study finds," but I see something very different. I see a sizable percentage of Americans not only concerned about government surveillance, but actively doing something about it. "Third of Americans shield data from government." Edward Snowden's goal was to start a national dialog about government surveillance, and these surveys show that he has succeeded in doing exactly that.

Iraqi forces claim last parcels of Tikrit from Islamic State →

Iraqi security forces backed by sectarian militias took control of the last Islamic State strongholds in Tikrit on Wednesday, the first successful operation by the government in Baghdad to reclaim a major Sunni Muslim population center since the extremist group took control of most of central, western and northern Iraq last year.
Reports from the scene indicated that the operation, far bloodier than anticipated when the security forces and their Shiite militia allies began it a month ago, had destroyed most of the city and surrounding areas. The death toll among the pro-government forces exceeded 1,000.

Why the Iranian Nuclear Deal Is Such Good News →

The Iranian nuclear deal reached in Switzerland on Thursday is a significant breakthrough. Uncertainties remain, inherently so, as it’s merely a “political framework” for a formal deal to be completed and signed by June 30. But this framework turns out to be far more detailed, quantitative, and restrictive than anyone had expected.
It might not lead to a deal as good as the outline suggests; it might not lead to a deal at all. But anyone who denounces this framework—anyone who argues that we should pull out of the talks, impose more sanctions, or bomb Iran because it’s better to have no deal than to have this one—is not a serious person or is pursuing a parochial agenda.
If this deal is fully implemented, Iran will be unable to build a nuclear bomb by enriching uranium or by reprocessing plutonium for at least 10 years. Some of the restrictions imposed by this deal would last 15 years. The international inspections of certain aspects of Iran’s nuclear program would stay in place for 25 years.
As for the economic sanctions against Iran, they would be lifted not upon the deal’s signing, as the Iranians initially demanded, but only after the inspectors have verified that Iran has fulfilled all of its commitments in the deal.

Al-Shabab attacks Kenyan university, killing at least 147 →

Masked al-Shabab militants stormed dormitories at a university in eastern Kenya early Thursday, killing at least 147 people in the worst terror attack on Kenyan soil in nearly two decades, officials said.
More than 500 students were rescued after the Islamist militants, heavily armed and strapped with explosives, attacked the campus of Garissa University College about 5:30 a.m., shooting some young people and taking others hostage. At least 79 people were injured, according to Kenya’s National Disaster Operation Center.
A government spokesman said the siege ended after 15 hours, with four gunmen from the Somali group having been killed.

U.S. Navy alarmed at Beijing’s ‘Great Wall of sand’ in South China Sea →

China is building a “Great Wall of sand” through an unparalleled program of land reclamation in the South China Sea, raising concerns about the possibility of military confrontation in the disputed waters, according to the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
...
“But what’s really drawing a lot of concern in the here and now is the unprecedented land reclamation currently being conducted by China,” he added.
Satellite images show rapid construction on various coral reefs and rocks controlled by China within the disputed Spratly Islands, including harbors, piers, helipads, buildings and potentially at least one airstrip, experts say. Last month, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki expressed concerns that the program was an attempt to “militarize outposts on disputed land features.”
Harris said that China has created 1.5 square miles of artificial landmass in recent months.

The Iran nuclear talks: a very simple guide →

It becomes much easier to understand the international negotiations over Iran's nuclear program when you see that each of the issues falls into one (or more) of three overlapping categories: things that are crucial for stopping Iran from getting a nuclear bomb, things that are less important but are just really hard to resolve, and things that mostly matter for appeasing domestic politics in Washington and Tehran.
Those distinctions also help explain why it's been so hard to reach a deal, even though theoretically everyone agrees on the broad concept: that Iran will get relief from international economic sanctions in exchange for accepting limits on its nuclear program meant to keep it from ever developing a nuclear weapon.
Here, then, is a super-simple guide to the eight most fundamental issues under discussion, where the negotiating teams stand on each, and why it matters...

And for those interested in something closer to the original document: Fact sheet from State Department: Parameters of plan on Iran nuclear program